Peskov told Russia’s Rossiya 24 television channel on Thursday that Russia’s air campaign in Syria has largely reached the final goal of freeing the land from terrorists.

“This years-long operation has in fact largely reached its goal, the Syrian territory has been freed from terrorists and conditions are ripe for a political settlement,” Peskov said, adding that, as Russia’s commander-in-chief, President Vladimir Putin played a significant role in commanding the operations by the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Russia’s campaign in Syria was launched in September 2015 at the request of the Syrian Arab Republic for supporting the Syrian Arab Army’s efforts in the fight against terrorism .